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How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet with BEN GOLDFARB

May 9, 2024

Conservation journalist Ben Goldfarb discusses road ecology, highlighting the detrimental effects of roads on wildlife mobility. He explores innovative road designs to protect wildlife, the ecological significance of beavers in carbon sequestration, AI technology in wildlife monitoring, and challenges in environmental journalism. The podcast also covers sustainable transportation options in urban areas and the role of conservation education in inspiring hope for the future.

43:22

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Episode guests

Ben Goldfarb

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Quick takeaways

Roads serve human mobility but hinder wildlife movement, emphasizing the need for wildlife-friendly infrastructure solutions.

Ben Goldfarb advocates reimagining roads to preserve biodiversity, challenging the perception of roads as symbols of freedom.

Deep dives

Road Ecology and Habitat Fragmentation

Roads play a pivotal role in connecting communities and facilitating transportation. However, the podcast highlights the detrimental impact of roads on wildlife, leading to habitat fragmentation, direct mortality from collisions, and barrier effects. As discussed by Ben Goldfarb, the author of 'Crossings,' road ecology presents challenges such as chemical noise, light pollution, and disruptions to species habitats. Examples like Tasmania with high roadkill rates demonstrate the need to reimagine roads to accommodate wildlife and preserve biodiversity.

Introduction

3min

Creating Roads with Wildlife in Mind

12min

Beavers, Carbon Sequestration, and Wildlife Bridges

6min

AI, Road Ecology, and Wildlife Monitoring

7min

Navigating Challenges in Environmental Journalism

9min

Urban and Rural Perspectives on Sustainable Transportation and Wildlife Conservation

3min

Inspiring Conservation Education and Hope for the Future

3min

What is road ecology? How are our roads driving certain species towards extinction? And what can we do about it?

Ben Goldfarb is a conservation journalist. He is the author of Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping The Future of Our Planet, named one of the best books of 2023 by the New York Times, and Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, winner of the 2019 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award.

“The creation of roads is this process that's sort of innate to all beings. You know, we're all sort of inclined to create and follow trails. We just do it at a much vaster and more permanent and destructive scale. I think we need to reconceive how we think about roads in some ways, right? I mean, we think about roads, certainly here in the U. S., as these symbols of movement and mobility and freedom, right? There's so much about the romance of the open road and so much of our popular culture going back to the mid-20th century when the interstate highway systems were built and writers like Jack Kerouac were singing the praises of the open highway. And certainly, roads play that role. I like driving. The iconic Western American road trip is kind of this wonderful experience, but you know, I think the purpose of this book is to say: Yes, roads are a source of human mobility and freedom, but they're doing precisely the opposite for basically all other forms of life, right? They're curtailing animal movement and mobility and freedom, both by killing them directly in the form of roadkill, but also by creating these kinds of impenetrable walls of traffic that prevent animals from moving around the landscape and accessing big swaths of their habitat. Right? So, that's kind of the mental reconfiguration we have to go through, which is to recognize that, hey, roads aren't just forms of mobility and freedom for us. They're also preventing that mobility in basically all other life forms.”

www.bengoldfarb.com
https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324005896
www.chelseagreen.com/product/eager-paperback

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